NaNoWriMo? A novel approach to writing

One of the most intimidating objects for many is a blank sheet of paper. What to write about? Where to take a story? How to bring it to life?

Those questions and the blank sheet stop many prospective authors before they begin. And that's where NaNoWriMo comes in.

National Novel Writing Month was established in 1999 and each November challenges participants to write a novel of at least 50,000 words. The non-profit offers free resources, encouragement from published authors, a goal and a deadline, all of which have combined for impressive results over the past 15 years. Last year alone saw 38,438 people complete the challenge, and all-time more than 250 novels that got their start with NaNoWriMo have been released by traditional publishing houses.

The organization boasts such works as Sara Gruen's "Water for Elephants."

Kirksville resident Todd Kuhns, author of the "Welcome to the Jungle" blog on KirksvilleDailyExpress.com, is one of the more than 300,000 aspiring novelists who have taken the plunge at NaNoWriMo.org, and Sunday from 3-9 p.m. will open the doors of Pickler's Famous and provide free Wi-Fi, popcorn and beverages to fellow "nanos."

For Kuhns, it will be an opportunity to get caught up on his word target while sharing the trials and triumphs of putting ideas onto paper.

"It's a fun challenge," Kuhns said. "The goal is to make it to 50,000 words by the end of the month. It doesn't matter how good those words are - you can always go back and revise later. NaNo is all about tackling the biggest challenge: Getting your story down on paper first, however bad it might look the first go-around."

Grant Faulkner, NaNoWriMo executive director, calls the process an "unbeatable way" to write a first draft.

"NaNoWriMo is an unbeatable way to write the first draft of a novel because it's such a powerful antidote to that horrible foe of creativity: self-doubt," Faulker says in a press release. "As many NaNoWriMo writers have discovered, the best way to learn to write a novel is by simply plunging in to write a novel."

Kuhns said he first learned about NaNoWriMo a few years ago from friends who took part in the challenge. He'd had ideas for stories, but never the push he needed to sit down and write one out.

"So, I knew that forcing myself to sit down and write a whole novel over the course of a month, amongst a community of supporters, would be the only way I would get that done," he said.

"Self-motivation is hard for many of us to muster. When you're joining forces with people all around the country for a shared goal at the end of the month, it's more fun. You can discuss your progress, ask for help, generally encourage each other, and there's a feeling of winning at the end of the month if you cross the finish line."

As of Wednesday, Kuhns had written 17,626 words of an "adventure/mystery/thriller" story about a group of "middle-school outcasts" who "discover a sinister secret buried deep in the history of their small, rural town."

Kuhns admitted the "town" is based on Kirksville, but wouldn't divulge the "sinister secret."

NaNoWriMo offers support in the way of forums to get feedback, help with research and obtain advice on writing, plot, structure, character development and more. The site also features "virtual write-ins" like the in-person event set for Sunday in Kirksville. They're all aimed at helping writers reach the word goal and win the NaNoWriMo prize: an official "Winner" web badge and a PDF winner's certificate.

"The real prize in NaNoWriMo is the manuscript itself, and the exhilarating feeling of setting an ambitious creative goal and nailing it," the website says.

Two weeks into taking the plunge, Kuhns said he's been surprised by how easy the process has been, and he's enjoyed the challenges of coming up with ideas and developing his story's characters. He realizes his novel will need "a ton of polish" even after November ends, but feels the hard part will be in the past.

"It's easier to polish something that already exists than to be staring at a blank page," he said.